+The Text+ is taken from Buchan's _Ballads of the North of Scotland_,
where it is entitled _The Gowans sae gay_. This ballad is much better
known in another form, _May Colvin_ (_Collin_, _Collean_).
+The Story.+--Professor Child says, 'Of all ballads this has perhaps
obtained the widest circulation,' and devotes thirty-two pages to its
introduction. Known in the south as well as in the north of Europe, the
Germans and Scandinavians preserve it in fuller and more ancient forms
than the Latin nations.
In the still popular Dutch ballad _Halewijn_, Heer Halewijn sings so
sweetly that the king's daughter asks leave to go to him. Her father,
mother, and sister remind her that those who have gone to him have never
returned; her brother says he does not care where she goes, if she
retains her honour. She makes an elaborate toilet, takes the best horse
in the king's stables, and joins Halewijn in the wood. They ride till
they come to a gallows with many women hanged upon it. Halewijn offers
her the choice of the means of her death, because she is fairest of all.
She says she will choose the sword, but that Halewijn had better take
off his coat, as it would be a pity to splash it with her blood. As he
takes it off, she cuts off his head, which, however, continues to talk,
suggesting she should blow his horn to warn his friends. She does not
fall into this rather obvious trap, nor will she agree to his suggestion
that she should rub his neck with a certain ointment. As she rides home,
she meets Halewijn's mother, and tells her he is dead. She is received
back with great honour and affection in her father's castle.
This is the best form of the story, but many others only a little less
full are found in Flanders, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Germany
(nearly thirty variants which fall into three main divisions found
respectively in North-West, South, and North-East Germany), Poland
(where it is extraordinarily common), Bohemia, Servia, France, North
Italy, Spain, and Portugal; and a Magyar ballad bears a certain
resemblance. On the whole, the English ballad here printed (but not _May
Colvin_) and the Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian ballads, would seem to
be the best preserved, on account of their retention of the primary
notion, that the maid first charms the knight to sleep and then binds
him. In _May Colvin_ and many of the other European versions, the knight
bids her strip off her gown; she asks him to turn away his face as she
does so, and when he is not looking, she pushes him into the river or
sea.
The remarkable likeness existing between the names of the knight in the
many languages, _e.g._ Halewijn (_Dutch_), Ulver, Olmar, Hollemen
(_Danish_), Olbert (_German_), and Elf-knight in English, has caused
some speculation as to a common origin. Professor Bugge has gone so far
as to conjecture that the whole story is an offshoot of the tale of
Judith and Holofernes, the latter name being the originals of the
variants given above. While this hypothesis is perhaps too startling to
be accepted without further evidence, it must be allowed that there are
resemblances in the two stories; and as for the metamorphosis of
Holofernes into Halewijn or Olbert, it is at once apparent that such
changes are quite within the possibilities of phonetic tradition; and
any one who is unwilling to credit this should recollect the Scottish
'keepach' and 'dreeach' (used together or separately), which are
derived, almost beyond belief, from 'hypochondriac.'
_May Colvin_ is one of the few ancient ballads still kept in print in
broadside form.